


Nothing Up My Sleeve, Just Some Scars

by WorkingChemistry



Series: DCU Omega AU [5]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman and the Signal (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Alfred Pennyworth is there at the end, Alpha Alfred Pennyworth, Alpha Bruce Wayne, Alpha Dick Grayson, Alpha Tim Drake, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Beta Duke Thomas, Derealization, Dissociation, Duke Thomas POV, Duke is an outsider only in that he’s not dissociating, Duke is part of the batfamily, Gen, Merry Christmas, No Sex, Omega Jason Todd, POV Outsider, Specifically Jason has, This isn’t a Christmas fic, Unpresented Damian Wayne, and he is valued, but it isn’t diagnosed yet, but it’s my Christmas fic?, this is gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 08:35:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17158745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WorkingChemistry/pseuds/WorkingChemistry
Summary: Duke is new to the pack and it is incredibly awkward and painful to watch them try to coax Jason into rejoining. So far he gets along with Jason best, which is why Dick has decided that he will sit next to Jason on family bonding night. He's doing what he can to keep everyone happy, but he was prepared to break up fights and distract before arguments can start.No one ever told him what to do when the massive omega just shuts down.





	Nothing Up My Sleeve, Just Some Scars

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas everyone! Or happy holidays if that’s your cup of tea. :) Hope everyone’s doing well. 
> 
> This isn’t the fic I wanted to post today, but I’ve lost several files somehow and they included a couple one shots, Good for Goodness, and my Christmas fic. So I’m rewriting everything, but it’s slow going. I am going to get replies to everyone’s comments I promise! I’ve just been working a lot of eight hour shifts stocking shelves so when I come home I just want to sleep. lol.
> 
> This is semi written from experience? I have severe agoraphobia and will sometimes have episodes where everything around me feels completely fake, like I’m underwater or my skin turns to cotton and I hear people speaking and I understand the words, but don’t process them. I’ve managed to work through them though so I’m still mostly functional when they happen. Anyway, I don’t want people to think I just wrote this for the whump factor. It’s canon that Jason has in the past just checked out and I wanted to include it in this series.

* * *

Duke’s new to the family, perhaps just new enough that he can still see the humor in watching Dick boss Jason around like the omega can’t put a stop to it just by sitting on him. He smiles into his cup as Dick drags Jason into the media room, the omega’s arms full with a giant popcorn bowl and various candy packages stacked on top. Dressed in pale denim jeans that fit snug around his thighs and a soft red v-neck sweater that hugs his curved waist, Jason’s still blinking rapidly— like he’s not quite sure how he got wrapped up in Dick’s latest scheme.

Duke really hopes the omega hadn’t made other plans because they’re going to be canceled.

“Dick, what is this?” Jason eyes the eldest batkid balefully. His voice is deeper than most omegas, but too soft to be anything else unless he’s deliberately making it sound rough.  “You said there was an emergency.”

“There was! It’s movie night. We can’t have movie night without you.” Dick grins, ever the performer, arms thrown wide. The alpha’s bergamot and sandalwood scent is saccharine sweet with false cheer to hide just how desperately he needs this night to go well. Duke knows he’s planned this event for weeks, he helped the alpha plan it.

Jason ‘returned to the fold’, as Dick puts it, exactly six weeks ago. Duke thinks it’s better described as Dick and Damian manipulating Jason into coming back to the manor, but to be fair during that time the omega hasvisited the manor at least twice each week.

It’s been... awkward, to put it lightly. Bordering on painful might be a more accurate description of getting glimpses of the family Bruce, Jason, and Dick used to be. It’s one thing to hear Dick tell of his ‘little wing’s’ wicked sense of humor, listen to Bruce impress the need to be cautious using Jason’s example, even just listening to Tim talk about the unadulterated passion that characterized Jason’s Robin, it’s another to be faced with the socially awkward, dark humored reality.

Especially when the reality has a tendency to constantly blunder his way into painful topics that literally every other vaguely bat related entity knows not to touch with a ten foot pole.  Duke’s still not recovered from Jason’s realization that manor lacked a single copy of Jane Austin and the bout of manor-wide brooding that occurred after.

Dick’s just barely quick enough to catch the snacks before they tumble to the ground. Tim’s just barely quick enough to prevent Jason from running and haul him over to the oversized loveseat Duke’s been occupying. The omega puts up nothing more than a token protest and Duke has to move quickly to avoid being crushed. The omega eyes him, but then turns to glare at Dick and Tim.

“Did Dick ‘trick’ everyone into coming to movie night?” Jason huffs.

Duke grins and snatches a throw blanket off the back of the couch to toss over their laps. Alfred installed lightweight blankets on nearly every couch in the manor by week four of Jason’s return after Damian mentioned how cold Jason always seemed to be. “You want us to believe that you actually thought there was an emergency?”

“Hey.” Dick protests as he hands off the candy to Damian to disperse. They all pretend not to notice Damian stealing the small tray of malban for himself. “I’m a good actor.”

“I couldn’t think of any other reason you would call me here out of the blue.” The omega retorts as he snatches up the Jolly Ranchers before Damian can hand him skittles.

“And the popcorn didn’t clue you in because...?” Tim raises an eyebrow, now holding said skittles and safely out of range of retaliation.

Duke accepts the box of zebra cakes he’s tossed. They’re not his favorite, but he knows Jason will trade for about half of them, if the others don’t barter for them first. He opens the packaging, subtly scenting the air to make sure the omega isn’t getting agitated. He’s been taking turns with Alfred to keep things from getting too overwhelming for Jason. It’s starting to feel like a good time to change topics. “What are we watching?”

“School of the Festering Dead.” Dick declares cheerfully and tosses the DVD to Bruce for the alpha to put in the player. “A zombie movie in honor of our favorite zombie.”

“I’m touched.” Jason drawls sarcastically, already counting out fifteen jolly ranchers—the going rate of one zebra cake. Apparently Bruce wrote out a long list of bartering guidelines after Tim and Damian got into it one day. Bats being bats, of course everyone had it memorized immediately. Despite the omega’s obvious efforts to appear offended, he’s grinning like a fool and his scent swells up twice as thick as normal.

Bruce smiles as well, briefly, as he settles back into his armchair. Though he looks as stern as always, there’s warmth in his voice. “Don’t call your brother a zombie.”

“He likes it.” Dick drops down onto the seat next to Damian, pulling the prickly pup up onto his lap. The boy hisses, but Dick ignores him.

Bruce grunts and shrugs one shoulder, scrolling through the language options to find the English subtitles, apparently another bat quirk. Duke’s never seen a movie with the bat family where they weren’t on. Bruce had the movie theater put them on the one time he’d taken Duke for a night out. “I said no.”

“Goldie’s in trouble.” Jason laughs, but not before Duke notices his slight frown,  and drops a pile of jolly ranchers in Duke’s lap. “Two cakes, pay up.”

“What if I don’t want to trade?” He raises an eyebrow, even as he passes the requested snacks over.

Jason immediately unwraps one and shoves it in his mouth. “Sounds like a you problem.”

“Don’t force your brother into trades he doesn’t want.” Comes Bruce’s firm reminder, not even glancing their way.  It’s... an odd feeling to be lumped in with the Wayne kids.

Jason freezes again, eying Bruce. A strange look crosses his expression again as he inhales the second cake, swallows, and then says, almost defiantly, “I ain’t holding a gun to his head.”

The room freezes to watch Bruce’s response. Someone, Duke’s pretty sure it’s Damian but the boy will never admit it, gives a small whimper.

Their pack alpha stiffens, before turning to sigh at Jason. “I should hope not, Can I trade you five chocolate covered pretzels?”

“Eehh... You can have like two grape ones.” Jason hesitates and then starts digging through the bag with a grudging huff.  It’s shortchanging Bruce by approximately three jolly ranchers, but the alpha doesn’t protest.

 

With that the tension disappears and Duke feels like he can settle back into the couch without dangerous repercussions. They hit play on the movie and a rather enjoyable, if highly predictable, plot begins.

“Who builds a school on a graveyard? That’s just asking for trouble.” Jason snorts ten minutes in, passing another handful of jolly ranchers over.

Duke sighs and relinquishes the zebra cake before negotiating a trade of said jolly ranchers with Tim. He’s rather focused on counting the number of candies he’s given, having learned the hard way that Tim tends to shortchange and then claim it’s within the realm of standard deviation, so he nearly misses it when the zombies emerge from their graves. Everyone has a good laugh about the horrible special effects.

It’s not until another twenty minutes pass that he realizes Jason’s been unusually quiet. He nudges the omega and waves his last zebra cake in his face. “You gonna trade me for this, Jay?”

“Trade me! Jason’s had three.” Dick whines like he’s not a full grown man with a trust fund. Duke tries not to think about trust funds, because that means coming to terms with the fact that he has one now too.  

Duke shoots Dick an annoyed look. After putting in all the work planning this to bond the family together, the alpha sure seems ready to start World War III over the last snack cake. Only... Jason doesn’t react.

Duke nudges Jason a little harder. “Hey, you sure you don’t want this?”

Nothing.

Dick is suddenly in their space, kneeling in front of Jason while the omega stares blankly at the wall. “Little wing? Hey, what’s wrong?”

As though with great effort, Jason drags his gaze down to Dick. There’s no recognition on his face, though his brow furrows slightly before smoothing out. His honey sweet scent is even and bland.

“Bruce, something’s wrong.” Dick doesn’t shout, or raise his voice, but immediately everyone goes on alert.

The pack alpha moves surprisingly fast for his bulk and Duke hurries to get out of the way. Bruce crouches down next to Dick and tries to get Jason’s attention to no avail. It’s like the omega is just... gone.

Cass joins them, moving with purpose. She stares up at Jason for a moment before grabbing Bruce’s hand and pulling it up so his wrist is underneath Jason’s nose.

The omega breathes out a heavy whine at the scent and dives forward off the couch to press against Bruce. However, the second he gets settled against the alpha he goes still and unresponsive again.

Bruce wraps his arms tightly around Jason, getting the omega in a firm hold. It seems to help, maybe. “What’s wrong, do you know?”

“Is hiding.” Cass’s voice is somehow harsh and neutral and full of sorrow all at once. “He will come back.”

Bruce grunts, one of his worried ones. Then he stands, hefting the omega in his arms like it’s nothing while Jason curls tighter into his chest. “I’m going get him set up in my room then I’ll need someone to stay with him while the rest of us try to figure out what’s happened.”

“I can stay with him.“ Duke offers before Tim and Dick can get into a dominance battle over who’s chosen.

“Thank you.” Bruce murmurs, touching Duke’s arm. Then he stands and leads the way to his room. The others scatter to do... who knows what. Probably something helpful.

Once they get to Bruce’s room they realize that Jason can stand, and will stand quite placidly in fact. So he stands with Jason, talking to him quietly, though he’s not sure the omega can actually hear him. Meanwhile Bruce is busy making a nest that looks straight out of a how to book. Each blanket and pillow is placed with military precision. One by one the others file in with something soft containing their scent and Bruce adds it to the pile as the file out in the same order they came.

With everything is settled in Bruce turns to Duke and holds out his hand. “Your shirt.”

“This family.” Duke mutters, but obediently hands the article of clothing over and it slips into a crack in the nest’s walls. It sparks something weird in his chest at being seen important enough to help comfort Jason.

Bruce coaxes Jason into the nest while Duke crawls up in beside him so Jason can curl up around him. To be honest he’s pretty freaking uncomfortable, especially once Jason starts to absently groom him like he’s a newborn pup, but he’s going to let it slide because this family has done a lot for him and he’s willing to do his part.

He sees, maybe clearer than anyone else in the pack, just how badly they need Jason. There are some who won’t admit it, Steph and Cass in particular don’t seem too upset that Jason’s basically shut down. Damian seems to be one particularly strong breeze away from toppling over. Meanwhile Dick and Tim seem borderline frantic, their entire being twisted up in an idea of how Jason should slot into the pack. Bruce... Bruce still seems to think he’s hallucinating Jason’s return.

Ironically, Duke’s pretty sure Stephanie and Cass will be the most help to Alfred.

Even after running blood tests, checking to make sure nobody is out of Arkham that shouldn’t be, reviewing Jason’s whereabouts for the past week, and calling in Leslie for a physical, no one can figure out what’s wrong.

The others are all in the cave for a second round of bloodwork guided by the doctor, when Jason rolls away from Duke with a groan. The omega presses his face against a pillow before sitting up and blearily examining the room. His gaze catches on Duke and rests there. “What happened to your clothes? You’re not bad looking, but I’m gonna need some cash before we go further.”

“Bruce made you a nest.” Duke doesn’t bother to repress his shudder. Jason’s constant innuendo every time he’s uncomfortable is a horrible coping mechanism that needs to go as soon as possible.

Jason blinks down at nest before flailing straight down to the floor with a thud that is definitely going to summon the swarm of unstable bats working themselves into a frenzy downstairs.

Duke carefully makes his way over to help the omega up. “You’ve got everyone beyond worked up. Any idea what happened?”

Before the Jason can respond, Bruce breaks the door off the hinges trying to get it to open. The alpha is at Jason’s side seconds later, liberally coating the omega in alpha scent. Jason flails his limbs for a moment before simply freezing. Bruce smooths Jason’s wayward curls out of his face,  “What happened?”

“Dunno what it is. Happened since before the pit... I guess. I don’t really remember. Talia said it happened before the pit.” Jason mumbles into Bruce’s shoulder. He still seems slightly disoriented, like he’s trying to account for lost time after blacking out at a party. “I just... turn off sometimes? Kinda just float and everything feels like cotton, y’know? How—how long was it?”

Duke refrains from saying that no, he doesn’t know. He feels pretty confident that almost no one knows. “Half a day.”

“Oh.” Jason relaxes. “That’s not so bad.”

“Not so bad?” The others all shove in as Dick bites off the words, his hackles raised. “Jason how often and how long.”

The omega flinches and tries to jerk away from Bruce, towards the window. “It’s fine. I’ve got it under control.”

“Jason Peter Todd, don’t you dare.” Leslie’s sharp voice cuts through the tension building.  Immediately Dick deflates and Jason goes limp against Bruce, snuffling defiantly. Leslie crouches down next to the pair, giving both Tim and Bruce an unimpressed glance for their growls. Her voice grows softer. “I need to know how long this usually lasts.”

“A day or two maybe.” He shrugs, trying to escape Bruce’s hold again. Bruce simply holds tighter and rumbles unhappily. After an uncomfortable pause, Jason licks his lips and adds, “The worst one lasted a week. Look, it’s fine. I’m fine. I want to go back to my apartment.”

“Do you know what triggered this... episode?”

“The graveyard scene in the movie.” Guilt flickers across his face as he glances at Dick. For a second Jason’s expression twitches back to that terrifying slackness, but then it scrunches back up in annoyance as Dick and Tim take advantage and begin to scent him as well. “I’m fine. Get off.”

Duke twitches half a grin and then turns to check on the rest of the pack. He catches only a glimpse of Damian, pale faced and trembling, before the boy slips out. He moves to follow him but Alfred, already dressed in his coat and hat, stops him.

“I will be taking Master Damian with me to pick up Master Jason’s things. I would appreciate it if you could keep an eye on things until I get back.”

Duke does smile this time as he glances  at a smothered Jason. “I think I can do that. Want me to call the girls and see if they can patrol tonight?”

“I believe that would be best.” Alfred nods as Duke walks him to the door. “That you for taking care of this, my boy. Will you be alright to manage things until I get back? I suspect once the adrenaline wears off two of our members will attempt to flee while the other half will do their best to trap them.”

Duke glances over his shoulder to see Jason already trying to squirm free. He’s going to have to slip back in soon to head off any real fights, but there’s a warmth to it. Sure it’s going to be a bumpy ride, but Jason is going to be back in the manor since everyone knows he won’t argue with Alfred. The pack’s omega has returned, and if it’s Duke’s job as a beta to smooth it all over over then he’ll do it. After they took him in, despite the fact that they were already falling apart at the seams, he’d do anything.

Watching Bruce shift back to awkward now that everyone’s safety is ensured, He can’t help but chuckle. Sure they’re nuts, but he wouldn’t trade this dysfunctional— rabidly loyal— pack for anything. 

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Sight of the Sun by fun.


End file.
